Nintendo is Changing its Corporate Structure and Promoting Reggie Fils-Aime and Satoru Shibata

Nintendo released its annual earnings report today, giving investors a run-down on the past year’s financial figures and sales data while also looking ahead to plans for the future. Buried in all of the big announcements about Nintendo NX and the upcoming Zelda game, Nintendo also quietly announced some notable changes to the company’s corporate structure. Specifically, Nintendo issued a notice regarding their plans to transition into a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee and to introduce an Executive Officer System that includes new titles for Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe Presidents Reggie Fils-Aime and Satoru Shibata.

Effective as of June 29th, 2016 (pending approval from Nintendo’s Board of Directors), Nintendo will be establishing an Audit and Supervisory Committee “to strengthen the audit and supervisory functions of the Board of Directors and further promote corporate governance.” Additionally, Nintendo’s Board of Directors will elect Executive Officers who will focus on the execution of operations, allowing the Board to focus on management decision-making and supervisory functions. Nintendo hopes this new division of powers will lead to “a more flexible management structure which can appropriately and swiftly respond to the rapidly changing business environment.”

Under this new structure, Reggie Fils-Aime and Satoru Shibata will each become Executive Officers, as will Nintendo Platform Technology Development Division leader Ko Shiota. Shinya Takahashi and Shuntaro Furukawa will both be promoted to Managing Executive Officer, while Shigeyuki Takahashi, Satoshi Yamato, Susumu Tanaka, and Hirokazu Shinshi will all become Senior Executive Officers. Excluding Fils-Aime and Shibata, each of the new Executive Officers currently hold General Manager positions.

Finally, Nintendo is also planning to shake up the members of their Board of Directors. Shigeyuki Takahashi, Satoshi Yamato, Susumu Tanaka, and Hirokazu Shinshi all intend to retire from their Director positions by June 29th. Shuntaro Furukawa is expected to join the Board as a Director, while Naoki Noguchi, Naoki Mizutani, Yoshimi Mitamura, and Katsuhiro Umeyama will all assume roles as “Directors as Audit and Supervisory Committee members.” Of the four, only Naoki Noguchi is currently a Nintendo employee. The rest are outside auditors and directors that Nintendo is bringing in to form their new committee.